The US Justice Department announced on Friday charges against three Russian nationals accused of operating two cryptocurrency mixers that were used for money laundering, including by ransomware groups.
Charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business were announced against Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov.
The DoJ said Oleynik and Ostapenko were arrested on December 1, 2024, in an undisclosed location, but Tarasov is still at large.
The three Russian nationals are accused of being involved in operating the cryptocurrency mixing services named Blender.io and Sinbad.io, which had been used to launder money obtained from criminal activities, including ransomware attacks, wire fraud, and cryptocurrency theft.
Authorities said Blender operated between 2018 and 2022, being advertised as ideal for anonymous cryptocurrency transactions.
A few months after Blender was shut down, Sinbad emerged and ran until November 2023, when it was taken down as a result of a law enforcement operation.
Both services were sanctioned by the US, with authorities pointing out that they had been used to launder funds by North Korean hackers.
Oleynik, Ostapenko and Tarasov face up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering charges and up to five years in prison for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
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